In Internet Protocol (IP) multicast networks, the multicast trace (mtrace) tool is used to trace the path that IP multicast packets take from a source to a destination. The mtrace tool is specified by an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard (“Mtrace Version 2: Traceroute Facility for IP Multicast,” http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-mboned-mtrace-v2-07) which allows the tracing of IP multicast routing paths, in order to trace the path that an IP multicast packet would take from some source to some destination. With the evolution and acceptance of Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) in Service Provider Networks, for transporting multicast applications over MPLS Label Switched Paths (LSPs) using Point-To-Multipoint (P2MP) LSPs which are established using Resource Reservation Protocol (RSVP) signaling, there is a need to enhance the above-described mtrace tool to trace the path for a given multicast flow from root node to leaf node.